Hello, I have a question that I think you can help me
find the answer. Is it easy to find a job with a Master
degree of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in California?

The reason why I ask this question because my
family doctor just told me, "you can't find a job after you
graduate because Americans do not believe in Acupuncture."
I love studying acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

Although I just started this year, I am so interested
in it. Please give me some advice and your opinion. Thank you
so much. Sincerely,SN

Your doctor hasn't a clue. I've noticed some MD's give their
opinions on things in which they have no training or experience.
On what study or survey did your MD base his opinion of American's
beliefs? The answer is none, because Eisenberg's study shows the
opposite is true

The fact is that most Americans don't know a lot about Chinese
Medicine (CM). Most of them only know about acupuncture, and very
little about that. Only 9% of Americans have tried acupuncture,
according to a 2003 survey of 2,717 Americans conducted by the
internationally-known research firm Harris Interactive. However,
two-thirds of the respondents who had not tried it would
consider it as a treatment option."

Many Americans people are interested in acupuncture... and there
is a lot of good research on it. So, if they don't "believe"
in it, then they are closed-minded, and unscientific. These people
live out the motto, My mind is made up  dont
confuse me with the facts.

Making it as a Chinese medicine practitioner is easier for the
business-minded. There's an owner mindset, and then there's an
employee mindset. If you are set on being an employee, you'll
find a pretty narrow market, but it can be done. You may even
find a hospital job somewhere, if you can put up with the ego's
and attitudes of some doctors.

The state of California will pay you $120 per worker's compensation
visit. You could see 2-4 of them per hour. I know of a guy here
in San Diego who grossed $1 million a few years back. He was working
pretty hard, but it's possible. My wife grossed over $100,000
her first year of practice in 1988. Interest and understanding
has grown quite a bit since then.

If you move to some cities across America after getting licensed,
you can have an INSTA-practice. That means that as soon as you
show up, people mob you. There are only 15,000 acupuncturists
for the 200 million American adults. Even though some places are
relatively saturated with acupuncturists, chiropractors have been
able to survive with one or more of them on a city block.

So whether you can find a "job" or not, I don't know,
but as a practitioner you can make more than a living.

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The PULSEAll information herein provided is for educational use only and not meant to substitute
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Carter, MSci, LAc, Editor